


the game house

by erosensei



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Blood, Horror, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Romance, Survival, Violence, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 18:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15691029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erosensei/pseuds/erosensei
Summary: 13 young men find themselves forced to play inside a game house.





	1. Prologue [프롤로그]

 

The long-haired young man finally regained his consciousness. He found himself lying on the floor in an unfamiliar room. As he looked around, he found two people whom he recognized and a bunch of others he cannot.

Some were banging on the door and shouting stuff like  _'Let us out!_ ' while others were spread around the room; others calm, others obviously terrified

One easily caught the man's eyes for he looked foreign. Next to him was a slim, tall man wearing a grey cardigan who looked like the leading man in the teen TV drama his sister likes. In the corner nearest to the door, sitting on the floor was a man in a midnight blue kung fu suit. Two dangerous looking men were wearing the uniform of a famous all-boys high school in their prefecture. There was also a man wearing glasses in an ' _I love my waifu'_  sweatshirt who was pacing back and forth while biting his fingernails. Someone with defined cheeks was bawling his eyes out, crying for his mother's help as he was banging the door together with two men who wore matching authentic shoes; one of them wearing a striped sports headband. A pastel pink-haired man was also examining the room, possibly judging the rest of the group.

As the man continued to study his surroundings, he noticed random things in the room – a few chairs and desks, used notebooks, broken crayons, a cassette player, colored Popsicle sticks, and many more. The walls were painted dirty white and there was no window in sight. The only way out was the door, but it seemed to be locked from the outside.

"Ah, Jeonghan!" The man with dark, almost black, hair went to check on him. "You're finally awake. Does your head hurt? Are you okay?"

"I...I guess so?" Jeonghan answered, trying to stand up. "Where are we?"

This time, a man with lighter hair helped him up. "It seems like we're locked in this room."

"Seungcheol," Jeonghan suddenly grabbed the dark-haired man by the arm, "I think my head hurts now."

"The hell," Seungcheol clicked his tongue and reached for the pill box in his pocket, "It's a good thing I always bring your medicine for you, idiot."

"So," Jeonghan took his pill and pointed at someone, "who are they?"

"Hey!" The light-haired man put Jeonghan's hand down.

"The fuck!" The man wearing an unbuttoned gakuran style uniform, sitting beside the one Jeonghan pointed at, stood up. "You tryna pick a fight?!"

"Uhm no, no!" The light-haired man stepped up. "Uhh, this friend of mine is a natural idiot, please forgive him. And oh, nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you? Are you fucking kidding with me?!" The tall man in a gakuran grabbed the light-haired man by the collar.

"Oy!" Seungcheol grabbed the tall man's arm, trying to stop him.

"Sorry, sorry! It's my fault," Jeonghan apologized. "Please put Jisoo down."

Jisoo sighed in relief when the aggressive lad finally let him go. Seungcheol and Jisoo kept saying sorry and bowed at every word as the tall man returned back to his seat, but the ever idiot Jeonghan could no longer contain his laughter and let out a giggle.

"You bitch!" The tall man stood up again and aimed his right fist at Jeonghan.

"KIM MINGYU!" The one sitting beside the aggressive man, who was apparently called Mingyu, shouted.

"Y-yes, boss!" Mingyu saluted.

" _Whoa, scary_ ," Jeonghan thought. This man had his left ear pierced and he looked like the delinquent type. The three stepped back as they were smelling trouble.

"My apologies," Mingyu's 'boss' stood up and went near them, "I also have an idiot with me."

"B-boss!" Mingyu pouted and blushed.

"Oh, it's fine," Seungcheol said as he gave out a fake chuckle, trying to hide the fact that he was also terrified of the Boss.

"The name's Wonwoo," Boss reached out his hand.

"I'm Seungcheol," he grabbed Wonwoo's hand to shake, "and this is Jeonghan and Jisoo. Uhm, may I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Wonwoo folded his arms above his chest.

Before Seungcheol could even ask, everyone turned in shock to the direction of the man wearing glasses after he accidentally pressed a button on the cassette player. It was a faint sound, but everyone heard it amid the noise made by the other people in the room. The thirteen scaredy-cats huddled at the center as the recording played.

 


	2. A or B [ A 또는 B]

The cassette only played that familiar sound from horror films. An eerie silence filled the room until a few clicks were heard from the device in front of them.

“AHHH, EOMMA!” The man with defined cheeks clung to the foreigner's arm as they were huddled at the center of the room. Mister leading man look-alike could not help but giggle at the scene. 

“Will you please shut the fuck up, you ugly piece of shit?!” Mingyu exploded. “You’ve been screaming ‘ _Eomma! Eomma!_ ’ since you woke up and you're honestly pissing the hell out of me! I’ll fucking ki--”

Wonwoo elbowed Mingyu’s gut, “ _You_ shut the fuck up.”

The three, yet again, let out fake chuckles because the Boss still terrified them.

“ _You!_ ” The pastel pink-haired man pointed at the man in glasses. “Why did you touch that thing?! Are you an idiot?! Do you even have a brain?!”

“Uhm, I-I’m sorry!” He begged, his eyes brimming with tears. “I-It was an accident! I didn’t mean to.”

“Yeah, yeah! It’s your fault!” The man with defined cheeks nodded in agreement, his arm still intertwined with the foreigner's.

The room became rowdy when all of them started talking. Some started bullying the man wearing glasses for the accident he committed, but one cannot blame these people for being nothing but afraid.

Everyone’s mouths were abruptly shut when they heard another click from the cassette player, and this time, they also heard the tape rolling.

 

**_“Boo!”_ **

 

Everyone backed away from the cassette player as they heard a robotic voice laugh from the tape recording. Seungcheol and Jisoo instinctively hid Jeonghan behind their backs. The man with defined cheeks started screaming ‘ _Eomma!_ ’ again, but Mingyu could not take it anymore so he finally slapped the man’s mouth shut.

 

**_“Welcome to my game, fools."_ **

 

“ _Game?_ ” Everyone thought, confusion written all over their faces. The man wearing a sports headband tightened his grip on the hand of the man whom he had matching shoes with.

 

**_“Everyone’s probably scared, frightened, and terrified, ahh, that’s what I wanted you to feel. My game is simple – you win,_ ** **_then congrats,_ ** **_you lose,_ ** **_then boohoo_ ** **_hahah_ ** **_a!”_ **

 

“Fuck this thing!” Mingyu almost threw the cassette player, but Seungcheol and the man in kung fu suit stopped him. The laugh of the man behind the recording resounded in the room and sent shivers down their backs.

 

**_“Hahaha, Kim Mingyu, you’re probably pissed aren’t cha? Ooh, I see you gritting your teeth. You too, Lee Jihoon.”_ **

 

The man with pink hair finally showed a frightened expression as he backed away once more.

 

**_“Yes, that’s right, I know all of you. Kim Mingyu, Lee Jihoon, Choi Seungcheol, Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo, Jeon Wonwoo, Boo Seungkwan, Chwe Hansol, Wen Junhui, Xu Minghao, Lee Seokmin, Kwon Soonyoung, Lee Chan.”_ **

 

Their eyes widened as their names were called.

 

**_“Now, pick those colored sticks up, ‘A’ or ‘B’ is written at the tips to determine your group. After splitting into two teams, play the tape inside Seungkwan’s man purse. Goodluck.”_ **

 

“It’s not a man purse. It’s called a satchel, for Christ’s sake!” The man with defined cheeks – Seungkwan – rummaged inside his Dijon yellow canvas bag, still looking troubled.

“OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!” Seungkwan threw the tape after touching it; the man in kung fu suit fortunately caught it. “How did that get in here?!"

The colored popsicle sticks were picked up by the guy in grey cardigan. “Wow, this is gonna be fun!”

“Fun, you say?!” The pink-haired man snapped.

“I’m honestly getting tired of my shooting and interview schedule these days,” said the man in grey cardigan. “This whole thing is a blessing.”

“OH MY GOD!” Seungkwan leaped and clung to him. “So you really are Wen Junhui? Oh my God, I thought you just really looked like him. You look hotter in person! Please give me an autograph!”

“My little sister likes you, too,” Jeonghan interrupted. “Can you also sign for me?”

“E-ehem…” Seungcheol coughed. “So, should we pick our teams now?”

Wen Junhui smirked, “Yeah, sure.”

The guys picked their sticks and grouped themselves respectively. No one among them knew what exactly they were doing or why they were compelled to obey the instructions given through the recording. After the last stick was left with Junhui, Team A and Team B gathered in separate circles.

“Uhm, are you okay?” Jeonghan asked the young man wearing authentic Nike shoes.

“I’m, I-I’m…” He suddenly started crying.

“Sorry,” the man wearing a sports headband apologized as he put his arm over the other man’s shoulders. “My cousin is just really, really scared right now.”

“Here,” Seungcheol offered his Team B stick to the crying young man, “you should team up with your hyung.”

The young man’s eyes glistened.

“What do you say, Chan?” The man with sports headband asked the crying young man.

“Thank you!” The man called Chan finally smiled.

Chan and his hyung went to Team B. Jeonghan hit Seungcheol with his elbow and whispered, _"You just wanted to team up with us!_ ", a remark which earned a giggle from Jisoo.

Seungkwan was all over Junhui while the foreign man was trying to start a conversation with the one wearing glasses.

Jisoo cleared his throat as a vague attempt to grab the attention of everyone in the group.

“So, I’m Jisoo, and this is Jeonghan and Seungcheol.” He smiled as he gestured towards his friends.

“I’m Hansol,” said the foreigner.

“Aren’t you the model for that famous male clothing line?” Seungkwan asked.

“Yes, yes he is.” Junhui put his arm over Hansol’s shoulders and teased, “My friend here is actually a rising superstar!”

“Stop it, Jun.” Hansol hit Junhui’s head softly.        

“Uhm, hello,” The man in an ‘ _I love my waifu’_ sweatshirt fixed his glasses. “I’m Seokmin. Nice to meet all of you.”

 

Meanwhile, Team B was having a rough time; Chan and his hyung could not say a thing, while Kim Mingyu was arguing with the pink-haired man. 

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut the fuck up?” Wonwoo twisted Mingyu’s left ear.

“Ah…ahh!” Mingyu grabbed Wonwoo’s hand to stop him from trying to tear his ear off, “Sorry, boss!”

The pink-haired man stuck his tongue out and Mingyu pouted; he knew he can never go against his boss.

“Ni hao,” greeted the man in kung fu suit, bowing with his hands at his navel. “I’m Xu Minghao.”

“N-Ni hao ma! Namaste! Konnichiwa!” The man wearing a sports headband greeted. He suddenly bowed with hands at his navel, unaware that he was copying Xu Minghao. “I’m Soonyoung and this is my cousin Chan.” Soonyoung also put Chan’s head down for a bow.

“You, what’s your name?” Mingyu asked the pink-haired man, still pouting.

“Huh?” The pink-haired man raised his left eyebrow. “And why should I tell you my name? Are you someone relevant?”

“You piece of--! Ugh,” Mingyu made a face.

“Lee Jihoon. You’re Lee Jihoon, aren’t you?” Wonwoo asked the pink-haired man after stomping on Mingyu’s foot. “I saw you back away when the recording mentioned that name; it’s just a guess though.”

“I’m a fan of the music you make, Lee Jihoon.” Minghao smiled and bowed at Jihoon.

“T-thanks.” Jihoon blushed. Soonyoung thought, ‘ _Ah cute, what a tsundere!_ ’

The team members were all suddenly curious about what they were doing before finding themselves in that unfamiliar place.

Wen Junhui and Hansol Choi were, if they remembered correctly, about to go home coming from a cast photoshoot. Lee Jihoon was practicing for his next piano recital in the local music hall. Xu Minghao was in his kung fu kwoon and just finished training his beloved students. Mingyu could not remember, so he asked Wonwoo who said they were with the rest of the gang before all that happened. Seokmin was just in his apartment, finishing an entire season of his favourite anime.

“I just came here last week from Jeju to study in the media arts high school in the prefecture,” Seungkwan explained. “I was in my dorm last night.”

“Well, we were just at our homes,” Jisoo also spoke up for Seungcheol and Jeonghan, “since it was a Sunday.”

“Chan and I were gonna meet with our friend and we were on our way to the subway,” Soonyoung said.

“So, what now?” Seungcheol caught the attention of both teams.

“I believe we should listen to this next,” Minghao raised the mysterious recording tape.

“But I’m scared!” Seungkwan yelled, stomping his feet. “I just wanna go home!”

“It’s not just you, monkey,” Jihoon whispered, but Seungkwan still heard it while Junhui and Hansol giggled.

“Hyung,” Chan buried his face in Soonyoung’s chest, “what’s gonna happen to us?”

“I-I don’t know…” Soonyoung answered, pain and worry written all over his face as he gently patted Chan’s back.

“Well,” Seungcheol got the tape from Minghao and put it in the cassette player, “ _that_ we just have to find out.”

Seungcheol pressed the same button Seokmin unintentionally touched and, for the second time that day, they heard the sound of the tape rolling.


	3. Rules [규칙]

Anger and fear were written all over the faces of these men as they listened to the second tape recording. Some, like Lee Jihoon, were nearing their saturation point and just wanted to break the cassette, but they tried really hard to control themselves because they knew that it was their only way out of that terrifying and suffocating place.

**_“I see you've already split in teams.”_ **

Everyone found it hard to breathe; their breaths taken by every word from the robotic recording.

**_“Dear playmates, I officially welcome you to my Game House! The teams will compete in different games I, the Game Master, have specially prepared._ **

**_“You will be awarded with different clues on how to get out of my house by competing and winning against the other team. No worries, dearies, everyone will get out of my paradise; it’s just that the winning team would have the privilege to leave this place earlier than the losing team.”_ **

Everyone sighed in relief when they heard the Game Master guarantee that they _will_ get out of the house.

**_“Now, if you fools are thinking of teaming up and helping the other team so that all of you could get out of this house at the same time, you better throw those hopeless thoughts away; I’ve got CCTV cameras everywhere. Dare to go against my rules and I won’t be responsible for the consequences.”_ **

The recording’s tone suddenly became serious and the guys started having goosebumps. Soonyoung and Chan tightened their grip on each other's hand, while Seungkwan clung to Hansol’s arm again. Even the aggressive Kim Mingyu was so frightened that he stepped back and quietly hid behind his boss’ back.

**_“My house has a lot of rooms with different games in it and its steel doors will be opened and locked according to a time I set. Your main goal is to earn more clues than the other team, so I suggest you scatter and look for the room with the game you're most confident on winning. Flat-screens are all over the place so you could witness on-going matches even if you're nowhere near the vicinity. The rules are written inside the red envelopes in one of the desk’s drawers.”_ **

Wen Junhui and Xu Minghao started searching the desks and found two red envelopes; they gave one to each team.

**_“And now,”_** the recording played a drumroll, **“ _the most awaited battle between Team A and Team B will commence with a fun game of tic-tac-toe! Kindly draw a nine square grid on the wall using the colored chalk I provided you. The winning team will be going out of the room first, and will be given thirty minutes to explore the Game House before the losing team goes out to join you. Good luck. I'll be watching you.”_**

The last part sent shivers down the boys’ spines, especially Boo Seungkwan’s.

Jihoon picked up a colored chalk and started drawing a 3x3 grid on the dirty white wall.

“Aish! Give me that!” Mingyu snatched the chalk from Jihoon’s hand and smirked, “I think the tall ones should be doing this.”

“ _YA_!” The musician exploded and aimed his fist at the delinquent.

“Okay,” Seungcheol came between the two, “I think you two should stop fighting now.”

“Yeah, I-I think Choi Seungcheol hyung is right,” Lee Chan said. “I-I think we should just go on with the tic-tac-toe and get out of this room quickly!”

Jeonghan gave Chan a smile and patted the boy's head, “Looks like this boy here is more mature than his hyungs.”

Chan giggled. Jihoon clicked his tongue and snatched the chalk back then continued drawing the grid. Wonwoo glared at Mingyu for the nth time that day and punched his arm.

Everyone fell silent after Jihoon finished with the last stroke. They were giving each other looks, silently asking ‘ _What now?_ ’

“So, who's X and who's O?” Wonwoo broke the silence, his arms folded around his chest. “Who's going first?”

“Why don't we decide with rock-paper-scissors?” Jisoo suggested, “Winner’s X and will go first.”

Everyone agreed and a representative from each team came in front. Wen Junhui and Xu Minghao greeted each other with a bow.

“ _Rock, paper-,”_ everyone was focused on Minghao and Junhui. Seokmin had his hands together and was repeatedly mumbling ‘ _Please! Please! Please!_ ’ Unfortunately, Xu Minghao won with a scissor cutting the flower boy’s paper.

“YEAAAAAH!” Kim Mingyu jumped with joy and kept pointing at Junhui, “Loser! Loser!”

“Ya! Hmph!” Boo Seungkwan made a face. “It's not like you won the lotto, idiot.”

“Ya! You should just shut up, blowfish.”

“Ugh,” Jihoon rolled his eyes. “I can't believe I'm in the same group as this kid.”

“Uh-huh,” Wonwoo bobbed his head. “I can't believe I was able to tolerate such stupidity for almost two years.”

“Anyhoo,” Seungcheol sighed, “I think we should play the tic-tac-toe now. We're wasting time.”

Team A had Yoon Jeonghan as their representative, while Team B had Kwon Soonyoung. The two had draws thrice in a row and everyone was getting impatient.

“ _Aish!”_ Jihoon stomped his foot. “Finish it already, Kwon Soonyoung!”

“I-I’m trying!” Soonyoung put an X at the center, having two X’s in a row, but Jeonghan blocked the streak with an O and it was a draw again.

“Shit!” Jihoon finally cursed. “So this is it, huh? This fucking game of Noughts and Crosses is actually gonna trap us all in here!” He searched the room for the CCTV and raised his middle finger, shouting, “You fucking Game Mas—”

“I don't think you should be doing that,” said Hansol while covering Jihoon’s mouth and lowering his hand.

Lee Jihoon nudged Hansol, “Fuck! Your hand tasted like perfume!”

Everyone started talking at the same time again, except for Chan who was intently thinking of a solution to their problem.

“Uhm, excuse me!” Lee Chan raised his hand and caught the attention of his hyungs, “Why don't we play a mental tic-tac-toe?”

“Huh?” Mingyu and Seungkwan’s faces looked really confused.

“W-well, the players would be putting their X’s and O’s on a mental nine square grid,” he explained, “and, I-I don't know, maybe the other members could jot it down on a piece of paper or something, you know. I think it makes the game have a lower probability for a draw.”

“I think that's a great idea, Chan!” Seungcheol agreed. “Ya, Yoon Jeonghan and Kwon Soon-,”

“ _Stop right there, you shit_ ,” Lee Jihoon interrupted, “stop acting like you’re the president of the class. Maybe you can order around your long-haired bitch right there, but not us; stop acting like you’re the leader in-charge here.”

“What did you just call Jeonghan?” Seungcheol, after trying really hard to contain himself, finally snapped.

“ _I don't know_ ,” Jihoon shrugged, “ _a bitch? What? Does he take you from behind?_ ”

“YOU BASTARD!” Seungcheol charged, but Jisoo and Jeonghan stopped him.

“Ya, Lee Jihoon!” Mingyu shouted. “I think you're going overboard, you pink-haired dwarf!”

“How dare you call me a dwarf, you retarded giraffe!”

Kim Mingyu and Lee Jihoon were at each other's throats again.

Yoon Jeonghan started feeling dizzy and fell on Jisoo’s arms.

“Hey! You okay?” Jisoo checked Jeonghan's temperature by the man’s forehead.

“I'm fine,” Jeonghan took a deep breath, “I'm probably just getting tired because of all this bickering.”

_“Shit!”_ Seungcheol cussed, fanning Jeonghan with his hands. He then turned to their teammates, “who would like to represent our team for the next round? Or should I—”

“ _M-me! Me! Me!”_ Lee Seokmin raised both his hands and went in front after hiding behind Wen Junhui and Chwe Hansol.

Team B also decided to change their representative to Jeon Wonwoo since Soonyoung was honestly tired of hearing Jihoon’s insults. The man wearing a sports headband thought that if the team representative was Jeon Wonwoo, Lee Jihoon would not be able to shout at the man, so he volunteered the Boss.

“H-hi!” Seokmin greeted Wonwoo. “My name's Lee Seokmin.”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo said, his deep voice resonating inside the room, “I'm Wonwoo.”

Wen Junhui and Xu Minghao were in-charge of jotting down the X’s and O’s on a piece of paper from a used notebook scattered on the floor.

“ _X, middle-left.”_ Wonwoo started their fourth round. Neither of the representatives was letting the other team win.

_“O, c-center!”_ Seokmin fixed his glasses.

“ _X, middle-right_.” Junhui and Minghao continued marking. Everyone was completely focused in the game.

“ _O, bottom-left!”_ Seokmin started biting his nails.

“ _Uh,_ ” Wonwoo paused for a while as he drew an imaginary grid in the air, “ _X, top, top-right!_ ”

Lee Seokmin tried to contain himself and gulped, “ _O, bottom-right!”_

“ _Shit!_ ” Lee Jihoon kicked a leg of a desk.

“Whoa, what happened?!” Seungkwan asked.

“Wait,” Hansol also drew an imaginary grid and jumped, “oh my god, finally! We won!”

“Seriously?! YEAAAAH!” Seungkwan and Hansol jumped and high-fived.

“You're amazing, Seokmin!” Jisoo praised.

“T-thanks!” The otaku blushed.

“It was a good game, bro,” Wonwoo stretched out his hand and flashed a genuine smile. “Congratulations.”

Seokmin smiled back and shook Wonwoo’s hand.

Team A formed a circle and congratulated Lee Seokmin. Boo Seungkwan joked that it was the tic-tac-toe of the century and the team giggled. Meanwhile, as Soonyoung predicted, Lee Jihoon could not scold the Boss and so vented his anger at one of the desks.

The teams then opened their red envelopes and read the Game Master’s general rules:

 

  1. **_ONLY ONE TEAM WILL BE DECLARED AS THE WINNER._**
  2. **_YOU MAY NEVER QUIT A GAME YOU STARTED._**
  3. **_NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO DECLINE A MATCH WHEN A MEMBER FROM THE OTHER TEAM CHALLENGES YOU._**
  4. **_YOU MAY USE SUBSTITION WHEN ANOTHER TEAM MEMBER IS PRESENT._**
  5. **_TEAMS MAY USE SUBSTITUTION ONLY THRICE._**
  6. **_OTHER MEMBERS ARE ALLOWED TO WATCH ON-GOING MATCHES LIVE._**
  7. **_RULES MAY BE ALTERED ACCORDING TO MY MOOD, HAHAHA._**



 

**_LOTS OF LOVE, THE GAME MASTER_** ♥

 

The steel door’s lock clicked and everyone flinched.

“You okay?” Seungcheol and Jisoo asked Jeonghan in chorus.

“ _Phew_ ,” Jeonghan took another deep breath and flashed his friends a smile, “yeah, as long as the three of us are together.”

Team A reluctantly walked out of the room and the door was locked again as soon as the entire group was gone. Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Chan tried to calm Lee Jihoon down, while Xu Minghao sat on the floor and decided to wait patiently until the door opens again.

“ _Hey, Boss,”_ Mingyu whispered into Wonwoo’s ear whilst the Boss sat on a chair, _“Why did ya lose on purpose?”_

“ _No particular reason_ ,” Jeon Wonwoo chuckled in his deep voice and crossed his leg. “ _I just felt like it_.”


	4. Doors [문]

 

“ _AHH, EOMMA!”_ Boo Seungkwan screamed when the door closed behind Team A. The lock clicked shut and they gulped at the sudden realization that there was no turning back.

In front of them hung a 21”-29” flat-screen TV on the same dirty white wall; the screen flashed nothing but a non-stop rolling red die at the center.

They looked left and right, examining their surroundings; they could only make out what looked like steel doors under the dim lights. Fortunately, the bulbs did not flick like those in cliché horror movies or else Boo Seungkwan might have already lost it and fainted.

“S-so,” Seokmin fixed his glasses, “should we split up?”

“I DON'T THINK THAT'S A GOOD IDEA!” Boo Seungkwan exclaimed.

“But I think we should check what's on the left side and the right,” the geek explained.

“I think so, too,” Jisoo nodded.

“But, but, I’m...” Seungkwan looked down at his feet. He was so close to crying that he could no longer describe the fear he was feeling at that moment with words.

“Hey, dude, it's fine,” Hansol gave him a smile, “we should just team up. You're safe with me, Seungkwan.”

The man with defined cheeks blushed at the top model’s invitation and finally agreed to Seokmin’s proposition.

Chwe Hansol, Boo Seungkwan, Wen Junhui, and Lee Seokmin were in-charge with the left whilst Choi Seungcheol, Yoon Jeonghan, and Jisoo Hong turned to their right.

Seungkwan clung to Hansol’s arm while they were surveying the rooms. At first, the man from Jeju did not want to open any of the doors because he was too frightened. They already passed by four doors and another TV when Wen Junhui somehow managed to calm him down; Seungkwan finally agreed to open the doors, but he did not want to go back to the rooms they already passed by.

“You guys ready?” The actor asked, his hand tight on the knob of the fifth door. The three nodded almost simultaneously then Wen Junhui opened the door which led to a room with Rubik’s cubes on a desk.

The four boys mentally reminded themselves to remember what was behind every door they opened.

After they shut the door of the seventh room, which had two Game Boy Advance SPs, they heard the faint sound of footsteps as they reached the eighth, which stood opposite another flat-screen TV. The sound was unmistakably getting louder at every passing second and was soon accompanied by shadows coming towards them.

“ _Eom-!”_ Hansol shushed Seungkwan before the latter could scream another cry for his mother and covered his mouth.

“ _Shit_!” Junhui cussed in a low voice as the four slowly backed away with light footsteps.

With Hansol’s hand on his mouth, Seungkwan started tearing up as the sound of footsteps was becoming more vivid and the shadows seemed closer. Lee Seokmin could not help but let out a scream when they finally got a glimpse of the mystery men.

“ _Oh God!”_ Jeonghan jumped, taken by surprise at the unexpected sight of his four teammates. “You scared me, guys!”

“I knew it,” Junhui breathed deeply as he tried to compose himself, “this place has a circular pattern.”

“And it's a huge one at that,” Jisoo added. “There seems to be some distance between the rooms.”

“If that's the case,” Seokmin paused for a bit, trying to gather his thoughts, “then this place must have four TVs hanging on the center post and has fourteen, no, sixteen rooms including the room wherein we were locked before.”

“Well,” Seungcheol opened the eighth door and they saw a staircase, which looked much like a fire exit, “ _I don't think there are only sixteen rooms._ ”

“ _What the hell?!_ ” Hansol exclaimed. “Just how many floors does this game house have?”

“I think that’s for us to find out,” said the long-haired man, then Seungcheol and Jisoo followed him down a few steps.

“No, thanks!” Seungkwan backed away. “We should probably just wait for the other team.”

“Don't you wanna get out of here asap?” Jeonghan looked Seungkwan in the eye.

Chwe Hansol sighed and offered Seungkwan his left hand, “You can grab onto my hand, idiot. It'll be fine.” The model flashed him a genuine smile.

Team A went on the staircase until they reached its end; they have gone down a total of five levels. Jeonghan opened the door to the lowest floor and they found it exactly the same as the fifth one.

They were welcomed by a similar flat-screen flashing a red die which hung against a dirty white wall and the same steel doors were arrayed on their left and right.

The seven-man team surveyed the rooms on the first floor and met again at the eighth door from each side. The door was a lot larger than the others and it had a six-spoke polished handle. Beside it was a touchscreen electronic lock. Only one thing came to their mind upon seeing the distinctive door: exit.

Junhui touched the screen and the numbers zero to nine popped up.

“Wait, can we just guess the passcode and get out of here quick?” Seungkwan suggested.

“It's possible,” Seokmin said, “but it would take us days; assuming that it has a four digit code, the passcode could be any sequence from 0000 to 9999, so that gives a total of 10,000 different combinations. But if the code permits 1, 2, or 3 character code then—”

“ _Aish!”_ Seungkwan clicked his tongue. “Fine, fine! Don't use math on me.”

“Well, anyway,” Seokmin sighed and continued, “I've seen this kind of lock in an expo before. It automatically changes its passcode when someone keys in 3 consecutive errors, and updates you via your hand phone. And the probability of us keying in the correct password in one try would be about 0.0001% so...”

“I'm sorry, man,” Junhui chuckled as he scratched his head, “I didn't get a thing you just said. Oh, but I understand that unlocking this door is damn hard.”

“ _And_ that the Game Master would probably kill us when he sees us pinning random codes in his lock.” Hansol added.

Team A then thought of splitting their group into five units so each could survey a floor. Hansol volunteered to team up with the frightened Seungkwan and the two of them stayed on the first floor, whilst Seungcheol, Seokmin, and Junhui each got their own floor.

“Jisoo,” Seungcheol turned to his friend when they reached the second floor, “I'll see you guys later, ‘kay? Don't get your eyes off of this idiot.”

“Ya!” Jeonghan pouted. “I'm not an idiot!”

“Okay, okay,” Choi Seungcheol chuckled and hugged the long-haired man. The four of them continued going up the staircase after shutting the door on the second level.

“Ya, Yoon Jeonghan,” Wen Junhui smirked, “are you and Choi Seungcheol—”

“ _No, we're not!”_ Yoon Jeonghan blushed.

“ _Yeah. right_ ,” the actor chuckled.

Yoon Jeonghan met Hong Jisoo’s eyes and his friend gave him a faint smile.

‘ _Oh, must be a love triangle, huh_ ’, Seokmin thought and they kept on walking.

Jisoo and Jeonghan left the two of them for the third floor. They heard an alarm go off right when the two of them reached the fourth floor.

“The thirty minutes must be up,” Junhui said, opening the fourth floor’s door.

“W-wait,” Seokmin grabbed Junhui’s wrist, “can I stay with you for a bit? I don't wanna run into the other team. Those two thugs and Lee Jihoon scare me.”

“Yeah, sure,” Junhui chuckled and nodded then they closed the door behind them.

 

Meanwhile, Team B finally got outside the starting room and surveyed the fifth floor; they did not split up and checked each room together.

“ _Wow!”_ Kim Mingyu exclaimed after seeing a card game in one of the rooms. “I've seen this game on Running Man before!”

Xu Minghao got the only card that said _도득_. “What is this game?”

“Well,” Mingyu seemed excited as he explained, “it's the thief card game. Whoever gets that card you're holding loses the game.”

“But, it has six cards. What if no one gets the thief card?” Minghao looked confused.

“ _Duh_ ,” Lee Jihoon grunted, “you need six players to play this card game, idiot.”

“Shut up, dwarf. He doesn't know, okay!” Mingyu defended the man in a kung fu suit.

“So basically,” Soonyoung interrupted, “there are also multiplayer games in this house.”

Kim Mingyu looked around the room for his boss, but Jeon Wonwoo was not around. He went out and found Wonwoo opening the door which led to the staircase.

“Looks like this game house has another floor,” Wonwoo said.

“Hey!” Jihoon ran after Mingyu, panting. “The fuck! Don't just run off like that!”

“What? Are you scared, smurf?” Kim Mingyu teased.

After another nonsensical bickering starring Kim Mingyu and Lee Jihoon, Team B went down the staircase and reached the lowest floor. They surveyed the floor through the right and arrived at the vault door.

“ _Whoa!_ ” Soonyoung and Chan both exclaimed.

“You shouldn't be wowed by this, _losers_ ,” Lee Jihoon snapped at the two. “Did you forget that we’re prisoners here?!”

“Oh, s-sorry!” Soonyoung apologized and hid Chan behind his back. 

Kim Mingyu pinned a random code and everyone flinched when it beeped an error.

_“Ya!”_ Jihoon kicked the back of Mingyu’s knee and the tall man fell forward. “Are you crazy?! Don’t just key in random numbers, you fool!”

“ _Aish_! That hurt, midget!” Mingyu aimed his fist at Jihoon, but controlled himself when his boss glared at him.

Jeon Wonwoo continued walking, his arms over his chest, and everyone followed him. Kim Mingyu opened the door on the left of the vault door.

“ _S-shit!”_ Kim Mingyu got startled and let out a deep breath to calm his heart. “ _Oh, fuck_ , it’s just the puffer fish and the handsome dude.”

“Thanks, man.” Hansol chuckled; he and Boo Seungkwan were sitting across each other and had a desk between them. They were busy checking out Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue memory cards.

“Welcome, man.” Mingyu bobbed his head a few times as he inspected the cards.

“Ya,” Seungkwan kicked Hansol under the desk, “what made you think that you’re the handsome man?”

“Uhm,” Hansol tried not to laugh.

“Whatever,” the short-tempered musician interrupted, “let’s just get this on with.”

They looked each other in the eye. Just because Chwe Hansol and Boo Seungkwan got there first did not mean that they were the only ones allowed to challenge the other team; it was not a first come, first serve basis.

“Ya, Lee Chan,” Lee Jihoon said in a commanding tone, “finish this stupid game and win, _got it_?”

“ _Wait a sec_ , who are you to order my dongsaeng?!” Soonyoung snapped.

“It’s okay, hyung,” Lee Chan calmed his cousin down, “this memory game won’t hurt.”

_“Hmph,”_ Jihoon raised an eyebrow at Soonyoung, “you should learn from your dongsaeng, _hyung-nim_.”

Kwon Soonyoung bit his lip, trying hard not to curse. Seungkwan stood up and offered Lee Chan his seat; in other words, he did not want to play the game and pushed the responsibility to the top model.

While they were setting the game, Lee Jihoon went out of the room and Jeon Wonwoo followed.

“Where are you going, Lee Jihoon?” The Boss asked in his deep voice.

“I’m gonna go check the other floors.” He answered simply and continued walking.

Jeon Wonwoo, Kim Mingyu, and Xu Minghao decided to follow the musician and left Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Chan behind.

“So, are you ready?” Chwe Hansol asked his opponent with a smile.

_Lee Chan took a deep breath and nodded_. 


	5. Clue [실마리]

 

“ _Okay, nothing's happening_ ,” Hansol grumbled as he got his seventh pair of Power Ranger cards and won for the second time.

Team A and Team B’s representatives for the memory card game already completed three rounds, but nothing was happening; there were no signs of the Game Master watching them play.

“I already won twice,” Hansol reasoned. “Shouldn't our team have the clue already?”

“ _I...I don't really know what's happening_ ,” Boo Seungkwan slumped on the floor and buried his face in his canvas bag.

Kwon Soonyoung opened the door and went out to survey the first floor hall for someone to help them, but the rest were upstairs looking into the rooms on the other floors, possibly facing the same problem. He soon figured that only the four of them were on that floor.

The man wearing a sports headband then went back inside the memory card room and shut the door behind him again. Soonyoung leaned on the steel door as he sighed and felt something press against his back. The Game House was suddenly filled with the blaring sound of a siren which caused everyone to jump in surprise.

“ _WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, KWON SOONYOUNG?!”_ The man from Jeju shouted, clearly flustered by the unexpected alarm.

“ _I...I don’t know! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”_ Soonyoung also panicked as he looked around him then he spotted a small black button on the back of the door. He went out of the room again and noticed that the nearest flat-screen no longer flashed the rolling red die. Instead, a mysterious masked man appeared at the center.

“ ** _Hello, playmates! Good luck on this game. The clues will be given via the winning team's tablet.”_** The Game Master's robotic voice echoed throughout the house.

“ _What tablet is he talking about?!_ ” Everyone thought whilst on different floors.

**“ _And now, I officially start your Power Rangers: light speed memory card game in 3, 2..._ ”**

_“Wait, I don't get it. What tablet?!”_ Seungkwan exclaimed, stomping his foot in utter confusion.

 **“ _1._ ” **A buzzer followed promptly, sounding much like the ones heard in basketball games. Everyone knew then that the first official game after that crazy tic-tac-toe had finally started.

The members on different floors had their eyes glued on the TV screens, rooting for their teammate.

 _“O-okay_ , _h-here I go_ ,” Lee Chan started and got the yellow light speed ranger pair in one try. His luck continued with another one, but failed on his third try when he got a red and green ranger.

“ _Oookay_ , my turn.” Chwe Hansol flipped a red ranger and got his first pair thanks to his opponent’s mistake earlier. He then got the green light speed ranger and they were tied.

The game went on until they had only four cards left on the table with Lee Chan having one pair more than Hansol.

Seungkwan counted their team’s cards and put his arm over Chwe Hansol’s shoulders, “Come on, you can do it, Hansolie!”

“ _Hansolie_?” The top model raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

Boo Seungkwan backed away, blushing, and the three of them laughed.

Meanwhile, on the fourth floor where the rest of Team B met Wen Junhui and Lee Seokmin, Lee Jihoon’s head was boiling again.

“ _Shit!_ ” The musician clicked his tongue and kicked the center post in anger. “I can't believe those idiots are just laughing this off!”

“ _Lee Jihoon-ssi,_ ” Xu Minghao said, calmly, “ _maybe you should cool your head_.”

The pink-haired man made a face, but did not say another word.

They continued watching and no one noticed the geek whilst he slowly and quietly went to the fifth floor, except his teammate, Wen Junhui.

“ _Ugh!”_ Lee Chan and Kwon Soonyoung grunted when the younger did not match a pair. Everyone knew the game was over and that it was the foreign man’s win.

After the top model got the last matching cards, he shook hands with Lee Chan as Boo Seungkwan jumped up and down.

Team A members from different floors sighed in relief; it was their victory and they got a clue after all. Still, they could not stop thinking about the _tablet_ the Game Master was referring to.

The flat-screens flashed the rolling red die again and everyone continued what they were doing.

“It was a nice game, bro,” Hansol patted Chan's head.

The younger sighed and looked really down, “ _Lee Jihoon hyung is definitely gonna kill me._ ”

“As if I'd let him, idiot!” Soonyoung ruffled his cousin's hair and giggled. “It’s fine, let’s just win the next game, ‘kay?”

The irritated Lee Jihoon walked out after watching his teammate lose and went upstairs. Apparently, he took Xu Minghao’s advice and cooled his head. With his hands in his jeans’ pockets, he walked around the fifth floor and noticed that the starting room's door was left ajar. He peered inside and found Lee Seokmin examining something on one of the desks.

“ _YA!”_ Lee Jihoon’s voice echoed in the room and Seokmin jumped. The gadget he was checking out almost fell off the desk, but the geek fortunately caught it. “ _What the fuck is that?!”_

“I...I think these are the tablets the Game Master was talking about,” Seokmin answered, though he looked like he was about to cry since the pink-haired man really startled him.

“ _Where the fuck did that come from?!”_ Lee Jihoon furrowed his brows.

The four-eyed otaku handed Lee Jihoon the tablet that had a red letter ‘ _B_ ’ on its lock screen. Lee Seokmin then swiped the screen of the tablet that had an ‘ _A_ ’.

Team A’s tablet beeped with a notification from the messaging application. The geek was so close to clicking it until he noticed that Lee Jihoon’s eyes were also glued on the screen.

“ _Uhm_ ,” Seokmin fixed his glasses and hid the gadget behind his back, “I-I should probably open this with my teammates!”

Lee Seokmin ran outside and went downstairs. As he was sweating, he mumbled to himself, ‘ _Damn, that Lee Jihoon sure is scary!_ ’ He sighed and got startled when he suddenly bumped into one of his teammates who was going up to the third floor.

“ _AHHH!_ ” Seokmin screamed his lungs out, almost falling down hard on his butt.

“Hey! Calm down, it’s me!” Choi Seungcheol said, his heart also beating fast.

“T-thank God!” Lee Seokmin took a deep breath. “I thought it was one of the punks. I’m sorry, I…I just can’t really stand the bully type.”

“It’s fine, I understand,” Seungcheol said. He then opened the door to the third floor; the two of them entered and shut the door behind their backs.

“Uhm, here,” Seokmin handed Team A’s tablet to Seungcheol whilst they walked to their right, “I found our tablet in the starting room on the fifth floor and the clue’s in there.”

“ _Whoa, really?!”_ Choi Seungcheol exclaimed as he inspected the tab, “ _Man, you’re really awesome, Seokmin-ah!”_

“I-it was nothing.” He did the habit of fixing his glasses again and smiled, “I haven’t opened it though. I was with Lee Jihoon earlier and I think he was waiting for me to open the clue, so I ran then bumped into you.”

Choi Seungcheol chuckled as he remembered the scene earlier. They continued walking and found Yoon Jeonghan and Hong Jisoo in the fourth room.

The room did not have a desk and the long haired man and his light-haired friend were slumped on the floor, playing Gonggi.

“Cheol-ah!” Jeonghan stood up as soon as he saw his friend enter the room.

“Oh, why are you guys here?” Jisoo asked while standing up. “I thought we’re supposed to split up?”

“There wasn’t anyone from Team B on the second, so I decided to join you two,” Seungcheol explained and pointed at Seokmin with his thumb, “I bumped into him while he was running down the staircase.”

“Oh,” the gentleman bobbed his head, “by the way, seems like this floor also has a locked door, same as the one on the first.”

“ _What?!”_ Choi Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows and Lee Seokmin looked extra terrified again.

Meanwhile, on the fourth floor, Kim Mingyu and the rest of his team also discovered another locked door with a similar electronic lock. Jeon Wonwoo then decided to go down the second floor with his loyal minion and left Xu Minghao with Team A’s Wen Junhui.

Seungcheol showed Jeonghan and Jisoo the tablet Seokmin found on the fifth floor. He swiped the screen to unlock and clicked the only icon it had; the four of them read the message from a contact named ‘ _GM_ ’.

 

‘ ** _Boo! No clues for that game, fools.’_**


	6. Locked [고정]

“ _Hey, Minghao-ah, you know…_ ” Wen Junhui kept on babbling about him and his lavish celebrity life as he surveyed the fourth floor with the man wearing a midnight kung fu suit.

“ _Bi zuǐ_ ,” Xu Minghao whispered and continued walking.
    
    
    “Ya,” Wen Junhui lightly nudged the other’s arm, “I know what that means.” He giggled and added, “I’m Chinese, yaknow?” 
    
    " _Oh, I know_ ," Xu Minghao said as he looked at the actor and flashed a thin smile his way, _"that's why I said it."_
    
    Wen Junhui pouted and the two of them entered a room with Chinese Checkers on a desk. Xu Minghao’s eyes glistened as he attentively inspected the red and green pegs and the checker board.
    
    
    “Wow. You must love this game a lot, huh, Xu Minghao-ssi?” Wen Junhui teased.
    
    
    
    “Yeah, I’ve loved this game since I was a kid,” Xu Minghao blushed " _So what?"_
    
    
    
    “Well then,” the matinee idol sat across Xu Minghao, "wanna play?" He asked the athlete with his brow raised.
    
    
    
    “ _Mm!_ ” The kung fu master nodded and they started playing the game. 
    
    
    
    The two decided to have a one round of rock-paper-scissors to determine the first player and Xu Minghao won; he then moved his red peg, and the game continued. 
    
    Immersed in the game, Wen Junhui did not even notice Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Chan entering the room; Xu Minghao noticed, but he did not give a damn and kept playing. 
    
    
    “ _Hyungs--,_ ” 
    
    _"Whoa!,"_ Wen Junhui jumped from his seat in surprise. “How long have you been there, guys?!”
    
    “S-sorry!” Chan apologized for startling his hyung. “W-we actually just came in.”

“ _Eeeh_ ,” Xu Minghao smirked, “ _aren’t cha a scaredy cat, Wen Junhui-ssi?_ ” It was his turn to tease this time.

“ _S-shut up…”_ The actor blushed.

Kwon Soonyoung tried not to laugh at the actor and coughed. “A-anyway, uhm, guys, we actually came here to tell you that the games won’t be official unless you press the button at the back of the doors.”

Lee Chan moved closer to that room’s door and pointed at the small button. “Here, you gotta push this before starting a game.”

“Well,” Kwon Soonyoung walked towards the door and opened it, “we gotta go to the fifth floor now to share this info with Lee Jihoon, Jeon Wonwoo, and Kim Mingyu. See y—!”

“ _Eh?_ ” Xu Minghao raised an eyebrow, rather confused. “I’m sure that Jeon Wonwoo and Kim Mingyu went down the second.”

“ _Eh, really?!_ ” Kwon Soonyoung exclaimed. “We went to the second, but we didn’t find anyone so we went up to the third and found Lee Seokmin, Choi Seungcheol, Yoon Jeonghan, and Hong Jisoo. We must’ve missed Jeon Wonwoo and Kim Mingyu, then,” he shrugged.

Kwon Soonyoung and his cousin went out and left the door open. Xu Minghao went closer to the steel door and pushed the button. Wen Junhui flinched at the blaring sound of the siren and so did everyone else inside the house; they would never get used to it.

 ** _“Hello, playmates! Good luck on this game,”_** the flat-screens flashed the Game Master in his mask again and he laughed in his robotic voice, which frightened everyone. **_“Did you like the clue, Team A?”_**

The Game Master continued laughing evilly. It pissed Lee Seokmin, Hong Jisoo, Yoon Jeonghan, and Choi Seungcheol since they knew what the Game Master was talking about. Meanwhile, Boo Seungkwan, Chwe Hansol, Wen Junhui, and the members of Team B were all clueless.

**_“And now, I officially start your Chinese Checkers game in 3, 2…”_ **

“ _Ya, ready, Minghao?_ ” Wen Junhui flashed his whites.

“ _Yeah_ ,” Xu Minghao returned the smile. The actor blushed and thought that the kung fu master was _cute_.

 ** _“1.”_** They heard the sound of a buzzer for the second time that day and everyone’s eyes were glued to the nearest flat-screen again.

Like their game earlier, Xu Minghao won a round of rock-paper-scissors so he went first with his red pegs.

The game went on with each player moving his peg one after the other, aiming to reach the opponent’s triangle. Lee Jihoon came inside the room in the middle of the game with their team’s tablet in his hand. Wen Junhui gave him a wink, which caused the musician to gag in disgust.

“ _Ugh, bummer!_ ” The matinee idol exclaimed when he realized that it was his opponent’s win. “Man, I would’ve won if I went first!”

“Good game, though,” Xu Minghao smiled and offered his hand.

“ _Yeah,_ ” Wen Junhui smiled again; the kung fu master’s sweet and soothing smile apparently started stirring something inside the actor. He was about to take Xu Minghao’s hand for a handshake when Lee Jihoon butted in and slapped his hand.

“ ** _Congratulations, Xu Minghao_** ,” the robotic voice faded and the television screens flashed rolling red dice again.

“You did great,” the musician said as he turned to Xu Minghao. “ _Keep it up_.”

“ _Stop right there, you shit,”_ the actor imitated Lee Jihoon and Xu Minghao giggled. “ _Stop acting like you’re the president of the class. Maybe you can order around—”_

“ _Shut the fuck up before I tear your mouth off,_ ” Lee Jihoon warned with a glare at Wen Junhui.

Team B’s tablet suddenly beeped with a message from the Game Master and Lee Jihoon hurriedly opened it together with Xu Minghao. Wen Junhui sunk in his seat, his head resting on the desk.

“ ** _1-2-3-4-5-6_** ”

“One, two—” Xu Minghao unconsciously said it out loud.

“ _YA!”_ Le Jihoon exploded and hit his arm.

Xu Minghao gasped, which, again, Wen Junhui found cute. “ _I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to._ ”

Lee Jihoon clicked his tongue and locked the screen of the gadget in his hand. He walked towards the door and turned to his teammate, “Are you coming with me?”

“Oh, I’m fine here.” Xu Minghao bowed and the musician went off.

The man in kung fu suit sat across the actor again and Wen Junhui turned to him, his head still resting on his arms on the desk. “Why didn’t you join your teammate?”

 “ _I’d rather hear your stories than stay with that hot-tempered Lee Jihoon_ ,” Xu Minghao sighed. “I can’t believe the musician I’ve admired for years turned out to be someone so rude.”

“ _R-really?!_ ” Wen Junhui blushed. He knew what Xu Minghao said did not really mean a thing and he actually just had no choice, but it made him happy anyway.  

“Yup,” he gave out an innocent smile and it melted Wen Junhui’s heart again.

“ _Aish!”_ The actor grunted to himself and slumped his face on the desk.

 

 

Meanwhile, Boo Seungkwan was having a _slight_ problem on the first floor. For some reason, he and Chwe Hansol did not move to another room and just stayed inside the one where the Power Rangers memory card game was held.

“ _Ughhh!_ ” Boo Seungkwan rolled on the floor. “ _I’m so hungry, and thirsty, and hungry, and thirsty!_ ”

Chwe Hansol sighed as he sat on the floor and leaned on the dirty white wall, “You’ll just tire yourself out if you keep rolling like that, Seungkwan.”

“But, _Hansolie!_ ” The man with defined cheeks pouted like a spoiled child.

“But, _Seungkwanie!_ ” He imitated his newly found friend.

“ _I want some water!_ ” Boo Seungkwan grumbled nonstop.

“ _Aish!_ _Fine_ ,” the foreign man stood up and opened the door, “I’ll ask the others if they got some. _But I’m ninety-nine point nine percent sure they don’t_ _since you’re actually the only one who has a bag with him_.”

“ _YA!”_ He clung to the man’s arm. “Don’t just leave me here!”

The model sighed and the two of them walked outside the room and aimed for the staircase. Just when they were a door away from the memory card room, they heard the clang of a bolt being shut. They shared a glance and both knew that the doors were being locked.

Chwe Hansol and Boo Seungkwan sprinted towards the memory card room, which they fortunately left open. They managed to slip inside and fell on the floor then the steel door closed behind them and locked.

“ _Are you okay?”_ Chwe Hansol panted on top of Boo Seungkwan.

“ _Y-yeah!”_ The man from Jeju blushed.

“ _G-good_ ,” he continued panting. “ _What the hell was that anyway?!”_

“ _Uhm,”_ Boo Seungkwan gulped as he looked all around the room, avoiding Hansol’s face which happened to be so close to his. “ _Uhh, so, when are you getting off me?”_

“ _Oh!”_ The model started blushing as he hurriedly sat up.

 

 

Meanwhile, on the third floor, the four members of Team A also dashed towards a room they left open; the long-haired man was falling behind the three and he tripped seconds before the door locked. Yoon Jeonghan was not able to enter the room where Lee Seokmin, Hong Jisoo, and Choi Seungcheol were in so he just sat outside and leaned against that room’s steel door.

Yoon Jeonghan could hear his friends calling out his name, banging on the door, but all he could do was to bite his lip and stop his tears from falling.

The long-haired man’s eyes started feeling heavy until he heard a door open and the sound of faint footsteps approaching him followed. His eyes opened wide upon the realization that he was not alone. He sat up in anticipation for his company.

However, his face turned dark again and he immediately regretted his eagerness as he heard a robotic voice whistling. He realized right away that it was not someone from Team A or Team B.

Yoon Jeonghan stood up and silently walked towards the opposite direction of the Game Master. He could feel his entire body shaking in fear, not ready to face the man he had seen only through the flat-screens around the game house.

Jeonghan felt as if his body was becoming heavier by every passing second, nearly unable to support his own weight. Soon, he fell on his knees and started sweating from distress.

He grabbed the knob of the nearest door to keep him up. As he struggled to get back on his feet, much to his surprise, the knob turned and the steel door opened. He wasted no time and got inside; a quick survey of the stairwell let him know that it was the entry door to the third floor.

Yoon Jeonghan collapsed on the floor and pushed his back against the door after making sure that he had locked it. He breathed in and out, trying to catch his breath, but his head started to ache in the process.

 _Knock, knock._ He put his hands over his mouth, trying to stop himself from screaming when the Game Master knocked on the door. _Knock, knock_.

A bloodcurdling silence filled the air as Yoon Jeonghan waited for the next move of the man on the other side of the steel door.

 ** _“I can see you, you know,”_** _his_ robotic laugh was the last thing Yoon Jeonghan heard before he blacked out.


	7. Masked Man [ 가면을 쓴 남자]

_“-han... Yoon Jeonghan!”_

The long-haired man slowly opened his eyes, touching the back of his head, and sat up; he woke up to the delinquents slumped on the floor beside him.

“ _Ya_ ,” Jeon Wonwoo said in his deep voice, “are you alright?”

“I'm fine, I guess...” Yoon Jeonghan tried standing up but he could not for his legs still felt weak; fortunately, Kim Mingyu caught him in his arms.

“ _YA!_ Don't stand up if you still feel weak!” Kim Mingyu clicked his tongue, “ _where are your boyfriends anyway?!”_

Yoon Jeonghan's eyes widened after remembering what had happened before he fainted, “ _T-The G-Game Master_ ,” he gulped, “ _I saw the Game Master!”_

“ _What?_ ” the delinquents said in unison, but with slightly different tones.

“ _T-The G-Game Master…he,”_ Yoon Jeonghan swallowed back his tears; he started shaking and Kim Mingyu did not know how to calm him down, “ _Ugh_ ,” he bit his lower lip and touched the back of his head again, “my head hurts… I need my medi--.”

“ _JEONGHAN!!!”_ the entry door opened with a bang, and Choi Seungcheol came running to the third floor’s stairwell together with Hong Jisoo and Lee Seokmin.

“ _C-cheol-ah! Jisoo-ah!”_ Yoon Jeonghan started crying, he threw himself in his friends’ arms, _“I-I_ ” he sobbed, “ _I was so, so scared_.”

Seungcheol and Jisoo furrowed their brows; the other one cussed whilst the latter kept on rubbing Jeonghan’s back to stop him from crying his eyes out.

“It’s gonna be fine, Han,” Hong Jisoo said in his mellow voice, “we’re here now.”

“ _Mm!_ ” Yoon Jeonghan nodded, wiping his tears.

“Judging from the way things are,” Jeon Wonwoo said, stroking his chin, “Yoon Jeonghan must have been left outside after the doors locked.”

Kim Mingyu bobbed his head, “we were locked out, too, on the second floor.”

“Oh, I see.” Lee Seokmin pursed his lips and bobbed his head.

“Anyway,” Jeon Wonwoo’s tone got extra serious, “Yoon Jeonghan, what were you talking about the Game Master earlier?”

Yoon Jeonghan flinched and started shaking again; Jisoo and Seungcheol held both his hands, “ _He…the Game Master…I saw him!”_

“ _What?!”_ his teammates’ eyes widened, Kim Mingyu and his boss just waited for the next thing Jeonghan’s going to say since they already knew about that part.

“Well,” Jeonghan combed his fingers through his hair, “I didn’t really _see_ him since I ran away from him, but, I know it was him.”

“Well whatever happened, _I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”_ Seungcheol said, tightening his grip on Jeonghan's left hand.

“Yupp, me too,” Jisoo tightened his grip on Jeonghan’s right hand and gave the long-haired man a gentle smile.

“ _Phew!_ ” Kim Mingyu whistled, “as much as I wanna continue watching this super  entertaining complicated love triangle drama, I really can’t right now because I’m dying to play that thief card game!” he put his hands on Wonwoo’s shoulders and started massaging, “ _Come on, Boss!”_

Jeon Wonwoo sighed, shaking his head from left to right.

“ _Ah!”_ Kim Mingyu raised his index finger, as if he just had the best idea ever. He then linked his arm with Yoon Jeonghan, “why don’t you join us? The game needs six players, and we’re exactly six here so--.”

Jisoo and Seungcheol coughed which made the tall man back off; Kim Mingyu raised both his arms, “ _Sorry, I didn’t mean to. He’s all yours!”_

After Yoon Jeonghan gulped his medicine, which he clearly said that he could not take any more if there was no water, the six of them went to the fifth floor.

 

 

Chwe Hansol and Boo Seungkwan did not move an inch even after they heard the clang of bolt that signalled the doors unlocking.

“Hey,” Hansol said, his hand intertwined with Seungkwan’s whilst they were slumped on the floor, “how many hours has it been since we were locked inside this room?”

“I don’t know,” Seungkwan sighed, he looked at his wristwatch that had cracked after they dashed to the memory card room and fell on the floor, “this thing’s not working anymore,” he sighed again, “all I know is that it was like ten something when I woke up in the starting room…10:10? I don’t know if it’s before noon or after noon though.”

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter now,” the foreign man stood up, he helped Seungkwan up, too, “ _what matters is that you’re thirsty, and I’m thirsty, and we need water.”_

Chwe Hansol reached for the door’s knob, but Seungkwan stopped him from turning it, “Ya, I don’t know, I’m kinda scared,” the man from Jeju looked down, “I mean, I don’t like this whole doors locking thing. What if we get separated? I’m scared!”

The top model giggled and ruffled Boo Seungkwan’s hair, “ _Idiot, I told you I got you.”_

Boo Seungkwan blushed and finally agreed to survey the whole Game House for water.

 

 

Meanwhile on the fourth floor, the matinee idol and kung fu master did not even notice that the doors unlocked for they were engrossed in chatting.

“You look cool in that midnight blue kung fu suit, by the way.” Wen Junhui smiled, patiently waiting for Xu Minghao to compliment him too; he had been complimenting Minghao for a while now, but the kung fu master had not said anything good about him yet.

“ _Xièxiè_ ,” Minghao smiled back.

“I bet you’d look hotter in black or in red satin,” Wen Junhui added.

“ _Xièxiè,”_ Minghao smiled again, but did not say anything more than that.

“Ya,” Wen Junhui pouted, “to be honest, I’ve been waiting for you to compliment me too.”  

“I know,” Minghao giggled.

Junhui clicked his tongue, “would it hurt you if you tried pointing out something good about me?”  

“Not really,” Minghao sighed, “fine, you look better in person than on TV.”  

_"FINALLY,”_ Wen Junhui beamed his whites like a kid who got complimented by his mother for finally being able to say ‘N’ after a lot of ‘L, M, M, Ms’ 

“ _Ya_ ,” the kung fu master sighed again, “ _are you hitting on me?”_  

“ _Yes, yes I am_ ,” Junhui admitted nonchalantly, “I’ve been hitting on you since we got locked in this room.”  

“ _Heol!”_ Xu Minghao exclaimed, “I was expecting you to deny it no matter how obvious you were.” 

Wen Junhui giggled, “I don’t see the point in denying it, though.”  

“I didn’t know you swing that way,” Minghao said, “I mean, I thought you had a thing with your leading lady in your previous drama.” 

“Oh that?” Junhui pouted again, “It was just for show. Plus, my agency would probably kick me out if they found out about my orientation.” The actor giggled, “Hansolie would probably get dragged in it too, considering he’s my best friend in the industry. The tabloids would probably be full of ‘Junhui and Hansol, dating?!’” he laughed at the thought again.  

“ _Thank you for confiding in me_ ,” Minghao smiled, “ _I appreciate it.”_  

“Nah, it’s nothing,” Junhui’s eyes widened after he got a bright idea, “Oh! Well, in exchange for the information you got from me, why don’t you treat me some Americano after all these bullshit?”  

“Mm!” Minghao nodded, “yeah, su--,” 

“ _YA_ ,” someone suddenly interrupted them; the man kept on stomping his feet, “I’ve been here for a couple of minutes, but you fools look like you’re totally absorbed in your nonsensical conversation that you did not even notice me opening the door.” 

“ _Oh it’s you,”_ Junhui smirked at Lee Jihoon and turned back to Minghao, “ _where were we?”_  

" _YA!”_ Jihoon hit the steel door and it echoed in the whole floor, “instead of flirting, why don’t you idiots move and win the games?!” the pink-haired man turned around and started walking away, “ _Good luck in having that fucking coffee date.”_  

When Hong Jisoo, Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol, Lee Seokmin, Jeon Wonwoo, and Kim Mingyu reached the fifth floor, they found Lee Chan in the thief card game room.  

“ _H-hyung!”_ Lee Chan fell on his knees and then got back up again, and hugged Yoon Jeonghan; he buried his face in the long-haired man’s chest. 

“What’s wrong?!” Yoon Jeonghan asked after hugging Lee Chan back, “Where’s Soonyoung?” 

“I got separated from Soonyoung hyung and Lee Jihoon hyung when the doors started locking,” Lee Chan sniffed.  

“I’m sure Soonyoung’s fine,” Jisoo assured the young man with a smile.  

“Well, if he isn’t stuck with that Lee Jihoon,” Kim Mingyu gave Chan thumbs up, “then I’m sure your hyung is fine. Pray that they also got separated.”  

Lee Chan finally giggled with Kim Mingyu’s joke, but the kid’s smile did not last for long after a masked man in all-black attire with matching black cape knocked on the steel door.  

Everyone’s eyes widened, and the seven of them backed away when the masked man waved them a ‘ _Hi!_ ’ The man in all-black then ran off, his cape flapping beautifully in the halls of the fifth floor.

“ _Let’s go_ ,” Seungcheol gave Jisoo, Seokmin, Wonwoo and Mingyu a look and they nodded.  

“H-hey what do you mean by ‘Let’s go’?!” Jeonghan looked confused; he gripped Chan’s hand tighter.  

“This will probably be our only chance of finding out who that damned Game Master is,” Seokmin said, fixing his glasses. 

“ _W-wait!”_ Yoon Jeonghan tried stopping them, but Seungcheol, Jisoo, Seokmin, Wonwoo and Mingyu ran off to catch the masked man, “ _Aish!_ ” the long-haired man followed them, hand-in-hand with Lee Chan.   

The masked man went straight to the fifth floor’s entry door and rushed down the staircase. When he reached the fourth floor, he bumped into Lee Jihoon which caused them to both fall flat on the floor.  

“ _Shit!_ ” the musician cussed, rubbing his forehead whilst he sat up, “ _What the--!”_ his eyes widened when he saw who he bumped with.  

The boys from the fifth floor finally caught up, thanks to Lee Jihoon ‘ _blocking_ ’ the man in all-black. Wonwoo and Mingyu pinned the masked man down flat on his back, and Seokmin reached for the guy’s mask.

Minghao and Junhui heard the commotion and joined the others in the fourth floor’s hall.  

_The ten of them gulped in fear and then the otaku removed the guy’s mask._


End file.
